I love the stock brakes on my EV. They've gotten me out of trouble a bunch of times. However, I have made a tiny mod which makes them much easier for me to use. I could never brake smoothly by pushing down vertically on the pedal, the way the stock setup requires. The brakes are just too effective (touchy) for that. When riding two-up, I always bonked helmets with the passenger.
In any case.... this is a cheap and easy mod. I simple removed the little rubber ankle stub and put it in the bottom of my toolbox. I then cut the lever at the straight section, about an inch back from the rubber pedal. I welded in a 3 inch section of hand shaped round stock with a small section of angle iron on the inside (toward the engine to hide it) as a reinforcement. When I put the lever back on, I adjusted the pedal so it was about 3/4 inch from the floor board at full push.
Now, the braking is done with the toe, just like in a car. I'm able to modulate the braking so the stops are much smoother and my boot doesn't get wedged under the pedal. I can also leave my foot flat on the board, which is very comfortable.
This will only work with the EV or other bikes with floorboards, of course.
Sidney in NC
tech@fireflyballoons.net
